Entering the pack was not the same as being accepted by the pack.

The looks of contempt that followed me and Faustina as we walked through the town said it all.

We were not one of them, we were outsiders who lived in their territory.

Nothing else.

I wasn't expecting a welcome party but I was hoping they would at least treat us like one of their own. Apparently I was expecting too much. Maybe it was our destiny to wander for the rest of our lives without belonging anywhere.

One way or another we had to survive and that's why I had to find a job. It was clear that we couldn't count on the support of the Wild Fangs members at all, we depended on ourselves and the money we could make on our own. And as the oldest sibling, it was my responsibility to take care of Faustina.

In my twenty-one years of life, I had acquired some useful work skills and even had experience as a cashier and waitress. Having a profession would have been ideal but the misfortune that hit our former pack prevented me from finishing my studies. A shame considering that teachers are always needed.

"Let's go into this store," I told Faustina.

She nodded. Her head barely moved and her eyes seemed to close of their own accord.

"I'm sorry, I promise we'll go home after this."

"It's okay," Faustina whispered, her voice empty of energy.

The clothing store was our tenth stop that morning. We went to several places asking for a job and all we received were negative responses.

"We are not hiring at the moment," they said. Even the owners of the shops that had signs that they were looking for employees said the same thing.

The aroma of roses welcomed us after we walked through the door. The ringing of the bell made the employee turn towards us and give us a business smile. She put aside the jackets she was hanging and approached the counter.

"Hi! My name is Sasha. What can I do for you?" She had a sweet voice that matched her appearance.

"Hi, we're new to the pack and I'm looking for a job, are you hiring right now by any chance? I have experience as a cashier," I replied.

She tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. "I wouldn't know what to tell you, the owner is not here right now. If you have a resume I can give it to her, or maybe you can give me your phone number to let you know if she needs someone new."

"Thank you," I told her. "I don't have a phone, though, when could I find the owner?"

"Julia should be here tomorrow after three in the afternoon." Sasha sounded authentic, at least one person treated us with respect.

"Don't even waste your energy on them." A tall man with short, red hair leaned his body on the open window and fixed his light blue eyes on me.

Sasha let out a breath. "What are you doing here, Kilma?" she said, approaching him. Then she pushed his muscular arm. "Get out of my window, I have work to do."

Faustina and I watched the scene in silence, without understanding what was happening.

"The pack trash is more important than me?" Kilma walked away from the window and seconds later he entered the store. "Look at them, they're not even werewolves, they look like humans and smell like them. Even the little girl has a stronger scent than her sister."

"Can you stop acting like an animal for once?" Sasha shouted, she straightened her body to face the man but there was still a significant height difference between them.

"You know I'm telling the truth, the only thing they bring to the pack is problems. They can't even collaborate with the simplest things," he pointed out to us. "If it weren't for our good-for-nothing alpha they wouldn't be here."

Faustina hid behind me and grabbed my shirt.

That was enough. I had been enduring the insults one after another to not cause any problems, however, complications followed us anyway. I could no longer hear them putting Faustina down.

I also couldn't hear Kilma insult Almec.

Why was I so interested in what they said about him? I didn't have an explanation, still I couldn't stop the anger that was growing in my mind.

"I could be of help to the pack if someone would give me a job," I said. "What do you know about us? You have no right to talk about us like that."

"They don't give you a job because at first glance they can see that you are of no use." He approached me and put his left hand on my shoulder.

My gaze wandered to the wolf that Kilma had tattooed on his arm. "Put your hand down," I said. "I don't want your rotten smell to stick to me."

"What the hell did you say, bitch?" He squeezed my shoulder. "Say one more thing and it will be the last thing you say."

"Your beard needs a trim, you look like a beggar." I smiled. Inside I felt terrified.

"You fucking whore, I'm sure you slept with Almec so he'd let you in." Kilma raised his right arm and moved his fist towards my face.

I carefully pushed Faustina away and covered her with my body. The fist was about to come into contact with my nose when someone stopped it. A hand that had metal middle and ring fingers gripped Kilma's wrist. The owner of the hand was a tall young man with blue hair and eyes, and a septum ring in his nose.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Mind your own business," Kilma replied.

"As the delta, the pack's problems are my business." He moved Kilma's arm down. "I'm sorry about his behavior, I'm Feinid and you must be Valentina."

"That's me, the one and only," I said. "You don't need to apologize for him, he could have done it himself."

"Kilma, go back to your training and let the girls shop in peace," Feinid said, opening the door.

"Actually we were already leaving." I held Faustina's hand and walked towards the exit. "Thank you both for the help. I'll be back tomorrow, see you later Sasha."

***

Back at our home, we reheated some of the food that Almec gave us, and after eating Faustina laid down to rest for a while. I sat next to her, admiring her relaxed expression.

I'm going to get the job and everything will be better. The promise arose in my mind without warning, I didn't even have to stop to think about it, my entire being burned with the desire to give Faustina the life she deserved.

A knock on the door woke me up from my trance. I got out of bed and went to the window. Who would want to talk to us?

Kilma was waiting at the entrance, he swung his body from one foot to the other and had his gaze fixed on the floor.

My common sense prompted me not to respond, I didn't want to have anything to do with someone like him. Plus we were in an isolated area and he was three times the size of me in pure muscle. I couldn't risk facing his wrath, maybe he was looking for revenge.

Kilma slammed the door harder than the first time. "I'm not here to fight," he shouted.

I didn't believe him, not after what he did in the store.

He began pacing back and forth. His shoulders were hunched. "I'm not going to stop screaming until you answer me."

From her place on the bed, Faustina was startled. She opened her eyes a little and looked around the room.

I returned to her side and held her hand. "It's okay, it's just someone who wants to talk. I'll take care of it, you can go back to sleep."

Before Kilma screamed again I opened the window and stuck my head out.

"What do you want?" I asked. "I'm not going to open the door for you."

"Fucking finally. I'm just here to say I'm sorry for trying to hit you."

I looked at him surprised, something must be wrong with him. The man I met wouldn't say something like that. Kilma raised his head and that's when I realized what could be the reason for his attitude. He had a split lip, a bruise on his right cheek, and his nose was crooked.

"Did you have a bad afternoon?" I asked.

Kilma clenched his fists. "As if you care. Just say you accept my apology so I can leave."

He looked up at the trees as if he was searching for something. I followed his gaze and noticed two bright red eyes in the darkness. It was like deja vu from the night before.

Almec. His name took over my mind.

"I accept your apology but don't ever try something like that again. Now get away from my house," I said.

"Like I want to be in this dumpster," he whispered as he walked away.

I ignored his words, the insults from people like him didn't hurt me, and my attention was directed to someone more important.

After making sure that Faustina was still sleeping, I ran towards the forest. At times like those, I wished my wolf was present to track the scents. Everything would be much simpler that way.

I crossed the trees in search of the black wolf, he owed me an explanation, or at least that was the excuse I told myself to chase him.

The shadow of a tail caught my attention.

"Almec, we need to talk. Please don't make me run any longer," I screamed.

The figure of the wolf, barely visible between the trunks, stopped its movements.

"Can you shift back? We can't talk if you're in that form," I said.

"What do you want to talk about?" Almec responded a few minutes later, walking towards me.

"You forced Kilma to apologize to me? What were all those wounds?"

"I did." He looked me straight in the eyes. "He deserved it. I heard what happened from Feinid."

I was waiting for him to give me more explanations. If all he wanted was for Kilma to apologize it would have been enough to use his authority as alpha, so why had he left him in such a bad state?

Instead of continuing talking Almec caressed my hair. "You had a leaf," he commented immediately, excusing himself.

Heat pooled in my cheeks. His touch had a special effect on me, with just two encounters he had managed to make me react like no other man could before.

"It's not that I'm not grateful for everything you did for us, I wanted to meet you today to thank you for what you left us last night, but why?"

"It's my job as the alpha," Almec said, however from what I had heard that morning in the town he didn't usually interfere in the lives of the inhabitants, it wasn't even common for him to appear there. "And I can't let anything bad happen to you," he whispered.

Why? I wanted to ask. Why would someone in his position care so much about someone like me? But I lacked the courage to speak up so I acted as if I didn't hear him.

"Anyway, thanks, I don't know what we would have done without your help," I smiled at him.

"Feinid said you were looking for a job."

"Yes, I'm going to talk to the owner of a clothing store tomorrow."

"No," said Almec. He put his hand on my shoulder for a second and then walked away from me. "It's not good enough for you. Tomorrow go to the inn, ask for Wina, she's going to give you a job. I already talked to her, I'd rather you work with someone I can trust."

"What's wrong with the clothing store?"

"Julia can cause you problems. Trust me on this."

Almec shifted into his wolf form, indicating that the conversation was over for him.

"I'll do what you told me only because I owe you a favor," I yelled at him as he disappeared into the trees.

What was so special about this Wina person that made Almec trust her? Whatever it was I was about to find out.